by Lada Ray
Thar’s stores and pharmacies carried signs:
NO UGLIES ALLOWED
So, it would normally take Runners all day and a lot of ingenuity to try and find a place where they could get necessary supplies. It certainly didn’t help that they had to do all of their errands on foot, since they had no money to buy the beautiful motor carriages Catharsians drove. But the Uglies were a resourceful bunch. If they couldn’t buy what they needed, they’d dive into garbage disposal bins, where they’d usually find perfectly good food, almost new clothes, and even medicine well before its expiration date, thrown out by the demanding Catharsians. They’d never admit it, but Catharsians actually loved it when Uglies picked up the unwanted food and clothes from their trash. Garbage wasn’t beautiful at all, and the more of it the Uglies removed, the better.
As Morf and his four companions walked around the city, the locals spit and cursed at them, and children threw stones. Some even sicked Elpets on them as they passed.
Morf knew: this was how his father became a cripple. The attack of an Elpet was especially hard to run away from when the Runner was already on his way back to the camp after an exhausting day, hungry and tired, and loaded with all the stuff he was able to carry. No Catharsian would give the tired Ugly a glass of water to quench his thirst or a bite to eat, while smells of delicious cooking from the nearby houses would make his stomach growl even worse.
That unfortunate day, his father was lucky enough to stumble upon a great stash of clothes and food thrown out by Catharsians, and he was loaded with more stuff than usual. When a Catharsian commanded his Elpet to attack him, he didn’t have the strength to run. As a result, his leg was badly mauled.
His father’s case wasn’t an exception. More often than not, Runners would return home bleeding and bruised from all the stones thrown at them and injuries inflicted on them during the day. But they never responded to such abuse. They always smiled politely and never fought back.
Morf’s run started without any problems. However, late in the afternoon, things got out of control as they encountered a particularly mean group of Catharsians. Several of them stood talking when the Uglies passed by, loaded to the hilt with their sacks and backpacks.
The Uglies politely greeted Catharsians. “Good day,” they said with particularly broad smiles. The Runners simply couldn’t help their smiles. The day had gone well, so far no one had attacked them, and the haul was good. By all accounts, it was turning out to be a very successful run, and very soon they would be returning home.
But for some reason, this simple greeting infuriated the natives. One of them had an Elpet on a leash—a large and particularly vicious looking model. Its owner quickly released the leash and commanded through clenched teeth, “Attack.”
The Elpet immediately sprang into action, covering the distance separating it from the Uglies in several giant leaps. Morf was first to notice the move.
“Run as fast as you can!” he yelled to his friends and nimbly sprinted off, hoping the other Runners would follow. Morf could run very fast and for a very long time due to his long legs and strength, and despite his heavy load. He ran like this for a few seconds and glanced back. Three of his friends managed to escape, but Dorf was in huge trouble. The first thing Morf noticed was that another Elpet joined the attack, and the two of them ganged up on the tired Dorf. He was helplessly sprawled on the ground, as both Elpets went for his leg and throat. Morf ran back as quickly as his legs would carry him, frantically waving his hands in the air in order to distract the Elpets from their victim.
“Here, I am here!” he kept yelling, jumping up and down. “Go after me, I have more flesh to bite into. Leave him alone, he is all skin and bones!”
The Elpets, either distracted by his yelling or his waving arms, detached their bloody faces from Dorf and instead, started after Morf.
Meanwhile, the other Runners were returning to help. “Help Dorf, I’ll distract them!” Morf yelled, running for his life. He ran as he’d never run before, and despite their best efforts, the Elpets were unable to catch him. After pursuing him for ten or fifteen blocks, the Elpets stopped, issuing disappointed squeals. They slowly turned around and returned to their owners. Breathing heavily, Morf stopped too and waited for his companions. They finally appeared, supporting the badly mauled Dorf. Morf loaded himself with Dorf’s stuff, and took some of the load off the other Runners’ backs, so they could carry their bleeding companion. Dorf’s breath was coming out in labored spasms. As he walked almost doubled over under his load, Morf knew his friend was in very bad shape. It seemed clear that without urgent treatment he might not reach the camp.
As they passed the square that Morf knew very well, he quickly said, “Wait here,” and dashed across the square, not even bothering to take the load off his shoulders. His destination was the local pharmacy, which he’d visited before. The owner of that pharmacy, an old Catharsian woman, was unlike other Catharsians. During his first run, she gave him a jar of ointment to treat his wound after he’d been bitten by an Elpet in front of her store. Another time, she gave him some food. He frantically knocked on the pharmacy door.
The door opened and the woman appeared. “You better leave,” she said, frowning. “I have nothing for you today.” Her head was nervously turning left and right, as if she was afraid someone might catch her talking to an Ugly.
“Please, I really need your help!” pleaded Morf.
“I can’t help you.”
“But you helped me before!”
“And as a result, I lost most of my customers,” responded the woman bitterly.
“Please,” said Morf, “don’t turn me down! I am very sorry you lost your customers. I am very sorry your act of kindness didn’t generate the kind of reward you deserved. I will pray for your happiness to Goddess Mu every day of my life. But, please, please help me this one last time, and I promise, I’ll never ask you again. This is a matter of life and death!”
“What’s the matter?” asked the woman.
“See that man over there?” Morf pointed at the bleeding Dorf, supported by his friends, all of whom waited nervously on the other side of the square.
“What happened?”
“He was badly mauled by Elpets and is losing a lot of blood. He won’t reach the camp, unless he gets treated immediately.”
The woman contemplated Dorf for a moment, and then disappeared inside. A moment later she reappeared with a bag containing bandages, ointment and pain medicine.
“Here. Put ointment directly on the wounds. Bandage the wounds immediately. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Give him water and these pills. This is all I can do. Now leave—and quickly.”
“Mu bless your kind heart!” said Morf with feeling, sprinting back to his friends.
They found a quiet hidden spot where Morf treated Dorf, carefully following the woman’s instructions. After that, they resumed their trip back to Camp Ugly.
Once back inside the camp, Dorf was taken to the infirmary, and the others deposited everything they were able to collect in the center of the Gathering Square, so all could get what they needed. As women and children excitedly dug through the goodies, trying to find a new tunic to wear, or a piece of food to spruce up their simple dinner, the rest of the Runners were treated for their wounds. They never complained and stoically endured the painful procedures; they were heroes of the day, and their people’s happiness was all they required in return.
The story of how Morf saved the day spread like fire around Camp Ugly. Everyone wanted to shake his hand and say how proud they were. As was usual on the night after the run, the Uglies had a lavish (by their standards) community dinner in the Gathering Square. Along with the other Runners, Morf received the best morsels of food and biggest chunks of bread. After everyone was done, the Uglies sang their amazing songs, which penetrated straight to one’s heart, if anyone cared to listen. But Catharsians never listened to these songs, nor did they ever look beneath the surface, and because of that they n
ever knew how beautiful the Uglies really were. The beauty of the Catharsians was all on the outside, but the beauty of the Uglies was within.
And so, as the Uglies sang songs and humbly carried their load, the beautiful Catharsians slowly started rotting from the inside. For a while it was completely unnoticeable, only sometimes a very strange and ugly smell could be sensed in the air. In cases like this Catharsians would usually hold their noses and say something like, “Smells like an Ugly.”
What they absolutely failed to realize was that they themselves emanated that smell. The situation deteriorated fast. First, enormous floods destroyed several of the Catharsian cities. As the floods arrived, Catharsians started experiencing strange sensations, unknown to them before. They began perspiring so profusely that often they’d have to change clothes ten times a day, because going around in sweaty clothes would be, well, ugly!
Then, droughts came. As the planet became scorched and wrinkled like an old and ugly shoe, many Catharsians noticed with great alarm that their flawless faces started developing premature wrinkles. The wrinkle problem became so pervasive that beauticians and plastic surgeons were making a killing. But none of the beauty treatments seemed to help, and even plastic surgery didn’t bring the desired results.
After that, it got worse. Powerful earthquakes shook the planet and Catharsians started feeling their bodies shaking uncontrollably. In order to stop the most severe instances of shaking, sometimes they would have to tie themselves to poles.
All chaos broke loose after the long inactive volcanoes erupted around the entire planet. As soon as these eruptions started, the formerly beautiful Catharsians’ bodies erupted in huge boils. Both plastic surgeons and beauticians were operating well beyond capacity. But no beautician or plastic surgeon in the world was able to fix this new problem. It was evident that Catharsians were slowly but surely turning ugly, as their rotten insides began manifesting outwardly.
As miserable Catharsians pondered what could have caused their perfect world to fall apart so suddenly, the Camp Ugly guards started noticing something unusual. As the entire planet shook with earthquakes, as volcanoes erupted, as droughts and floods devastated the land, the Uglies went on living as usual. They seemed completely insulated from the cataclysms, and immune to diseases.
They still humbly toiled every day, and they still sang their songs. That month, when the Runners had to go to Thar for supplies, they marveled at how quiet the city had become, as Catharsians hid in their beautiful houses, ashamed at how ugly they looked. The Uglies could not believe that no one tried to bully them, and for the first time ever, they returned to the camp without bleeding wounds or even bruises.
What’s more, one night all of their guards were suddenly gone. Since then, no one was guarding the electric fence or the gate. For the first time in generations, the Uglies were free to come and go as they pleased.
When Catharsians realized that the Uglies were not suffering like they were, an angry mob made its way to Camp Ugly. It was the first time ever that the beautiful Catharsians and Uglies met face to face. The mob stared at the Uglies with utmost hatred, while the Uglies calmly gazed back at the mob, both separated by the electric fence. As they looked at each other, a striking realization hit both sides. The Catharsians were now ugly as sin, what with all the wrinkles and boils all over their bodies. And the Uglies now looked truly beautiful, as their inner beauty shone through, changing their outward appearance. Somehow this pacified the mob, like nothing else did.
Meanwhile, the Uglies realized that Catharsians needed their help and opened the gates to allow them in. Many felt it beneath their dignity to step inside Camp Ugly, and went back home. But some stayed, as the Uglies brought out of their homes some of their home remedies known to treat severe wounds often inflicted on their men at the hands of these same Catharsians.
However, the Uglies never mentioned that, as their kind hearts forgave their tormentors. Their only desire was to help those in need. The whole night the Uglies treated Catharsians. When the sun came back up, their patients looked and felt much better. The news of the Uglies’ success spread like fire. More and more Catharsians showed up at the camp to receive their dose of treatment.
The Uglies worked day and night to help their former tormentors. Meanwhile, the situation on the planet was rapidly worsening. More floods, earthquakes and volcano eruptions occurred every day; more and more Catharsians needed treatment. Some lost an arm or a leg in an earthquake or another disaster; some were burned by fires as volcanoes erupted. No one was afraid any more of catching the ugly disease. To the contrary, Camp Ugly was the only place unaffected by global disaster, and therefore, the place everyone wanted to be.
The Uglies shared their scarce food and drink, and even their homes, with Catharsians. They welcomed them to stay at the empty huts they no longer filled, but at some point the camp became too small to fit all the newcomers. Catharsians started fighting with each other for space, and even lashing out at their rescuers, the Uglies. The Uglies didn’t respond to all that angry energy, and quietly continued their work. But even the peaceful Uglies saw that it was a losing battle. As the weather patterns got out of control with global disasters raging everywhere, Catharsians seemed to be taking over their camp—the only place on the entire planet which was at peace. As they did, earthquakes and other problems started shaking up the camp, too.
It was becoming increasingly clear to the Uglies that the planet was dying and that even the Mother Crystal was unable to change that. That evening, the Uglies gathered around the sacred fire, singing one of their beautiful songs. Its beauty mesmerized Catharsians who came to listen, although they couldn’t understand the words. In fact, the words were those of the ancient and very powerful Lemurian prayer. The Uglies prayed to Mother Mu and Father Universe to show them the way to save the future.
Late at night, when both Uglies and Catharsians were fast asleep, Morf still sat, staring into the dying embers of the sacred fire, thinking and thinking about the illusive solution to the planet’s problem. He raised his eyes to the sky with the orange moon in the East and the purple one in the West, contemplating the winking stars splashed across the nightly vastness.
All of a sudden, he noticed one of the stars above detach from its fixed place in the sky and start growing. The star grew and grew until it became the size of his palm. Morf blinked incredulously and rubbed his eyes. It must be fatigue, he thought. When his eyes opened again, the star was already the size of his head, and its light was almost blinding. Morf blinked again and vigorously shook his head.
“This can’t be,” he whispered. “It’s impossible.”
But even as he was saying that, the star still kept growing, and at last it landed right next to him like a small tornado of the divine light. Morf jumped to his feet and watched the star mesmerized as it turned into a divine creature, her beautiful face aglow, her shimmering long white hair teased by the breeze, and her flowing white gowns so transparent and light as if they were made out of stars.
“Good evening, Morf,” said the divine creature, gazing at the young Ugly with a gentle smile.
Morf stared back, not knowing how to respond. He wanted to open his mouth, but his lips were soft and immobile. It occurred to him that he must have simply fallen asleep by the fire and this whole thing was just a dream. Relief flooded his mind as he pinched himself really hard in the arm. In a moment he’d be awake and the whole world would be the way it had always been.
He felt sharp pain. He looked down at his arm, as a large bruise started developing where he pinched himself. Yet, the divine creature was still standing in front of him, just as before. Perhaps, I didn’t pinch myself hard enough, thought Morf. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing to pinch himself as painfully as he could endure, but…
“There is no need to hurt yourself, Morf,” said the divine apparition. “I am not your dream, I am as real as I can be. And I came to you for a reason.”
“Who are you?”
whispered Morf.
“I am Mu, your Goddess, and I am here to save the future.”
“But…” started Morf. He was about to say that this just sounded too fantastic.
Mu interrupted, “You pray to me every night to show you the way out of this impossible situation and now that I am here, you don’t believe?”
“No, no, that’s not it.” Morf shook his head vigorously. “I believe in you with all my heart, and you are even more beautiful than I imagined you to be. I just can’t understand why you came to me.”
“Ah, I see,” said Mu. “You feel you are unworthy.”
“Yes,” said Morf, “that’s it. And generally, we, the Uglies, always prayed to you and always believed in you, but you never helped us before. So, why now?”
“I wanted to help,” whispered Mu, a lone tear of sorrow making its way down her beautiful face. “I’m your divine mother and I always felt your pain.”
“So, why didn’t you? You know how much we’d suffered.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I thought you were the Goddess.”
“I am,” said Mu. “But there is much more to the story. The Universe has a structure, and part of its structure is for every soul to learn its lesson. The lesson the Uglies had to learn was to see the divine beauty in everything despite ugliness, and the lesson for the Catharsians was to feel compassion to the less fortunate. Yes, my son, Catharsians and Uglies are not the same people. You are two different races, although you were born of the same parentage. What seems ugly to Catharsians may be beautiful to others. Eventually, the time of Karma comes. It is when each would reap rewards and consequences, depending on how well each race learned its lesson. The time of Karma is now.”
Morf listened to these words, frowning. Of course, he understood the concept of Karma very well. Each Ugly was taught the law of consequences from an early age. But it seemed to him Catharsians knew nothing about it.
